Fighting For My Life
by SoaringEagle11
Summary: Charlie never knew that Sky and Z would hate her enough to attempt killing her.


Charlie sighed deeply as she walked down the hallway of the SPD headquarters. It was the first time she had been let out of her prison since she and her team had been defeated by B-Squad and even though her expression suggested otherwise, she was excited to be out of it at last. However, she was extremely tired because of the excruciatingly painful workout she had been put though a few minutes ago and worse yet, Commander Cruger had requested a meeting with her to see if she was worthy of joining SPD again. Unfortunately, he had also told her that if she didn't arrive on time, that chance would be gone. She began to mutter to herself as she went on.

"Well, I suppose I should be grateful I got this chance. I mean, Beevor or Cliff or Ivan haven't been allowed out. And Rachel, I can't imagine what happened to her. Heck, she was beaten up so badly that I'm surprised she's still breathing." Charlie blinked. "I should be glad _I'm_ still breathing."

"Charlie!" Someone snapped the former A-squad Red Ranger's name and she spun around to see Kat stepping cautiously toward her. "What are you doing out here?" Her fangs were slightly bared.

"Easy, Kat. I was allowed out and Cruger wanted to see me."

"Hmmph. Well, carry on." She stalked away.

Charlie sniffed. She didn't have time to worry about young Felid creatures like her. She had to get to the specified room Cruger had stated he would meet her in SPD. Of course, with her luck, it had to be on the other side of the base. She leaned against the wall as she undid her ponytail and let her shiny, dark brown hair cascade over her shoulders.

"What are you doing out here?" Charlie stiffened as the Yellow Ranger from B-squad moved in front of her (What was her name? She'd heard other cadets call her Z). The taller girl reached her arms out, one on each side of the recent prisoner, caging her against the wall. "You're not supposed to be out here."

"Cruger requested a meeting with me." She was tired of saying the same thing over and over again. "I need to go."

"No way." Z closed her trap tighter. "You shouldn't have escaped."

"I didn't, I was let out!"

"Am I really supposed to believe someone who betrayed SPD and leagued themselves and their team with Gruumm?" Z's nails dug into her shoulders and Charlie glared at her.

"Z!" another voice roared from behind her, startling them both. "You have a training session with D-squad in two minutes. I will take care of Charlie."

Casting a last look of contempt back at the other girl, Z muttered something to who had just shown up and darted away. But Charlie's brief moment of relief after that didn't last long, for where Z had been standing a moment ago, the tall, muscular body of Sky, the Blue B-squad Ranger, began to fill the space, his hands pinning her arms to the wall, with an angry expression on his face.

"You're coming with me," he snarled in a low voice. "I don't care what Cruger told you to do; I'm taking you with me for the afternoon."

"But-"

"Silence!" Sky yelled. No other cadets in the hallway paid attention to his outburst. "Come with me or the consequences will be severe."

Charlie refused to admit she was even a little bit afraid, but not willing to find out what would happen if she didn't obey, she followed him. Sky led her back along the way she had come, toward the prison holdings, often checking behind him to see if she was still there. At first, she thought he was putting her back in a cell, but it soon became clear that he wasn't. The Blue Ranger eventually stopped at the end of the hall, next to a plain blue wall. But when he touched his hand to the wall, a mark formed around it and the barrier slid aside, revealing a small, fog-covered room with an iron door at the end of it. Sky pushed Charlie inside before going in himself, continuing to pressure her forward as they made their way over to the door. He opened that door too when they got there and before she could go in, he picked her up by the neck as if she was no lighter than air and flung her through the doorway. Charlie hissed as she landed on a floor layered with smoke that felt like nothing. When the door closed behind them, she was entirely confused about what was happening. What was he doing to her?

"Sky, what's going on?" she spat.

He said nothing.

"What's going on?" Charlie repeated, her eyes narrowing. "Sky!"

Sky took a step toward her. "You," he growled. "You have done too much harm to SPD. I have taken it solely upon me to make sure the safety of everyone here is protected." His eyes met hers. "I need to destroy you."

"What?" Charlie stepped back, her gaze tearing from his. "You can't! I can be good."

"I'm not willing to take any chances." Before the sentence had even finished, Charlie saw a flash of blue rush towards her and then an immense pain shot through her stomach, causing her to fall hard onto the ground. She bit her lip as she got back up, looking around wildly for a sign of where Sky was, wanting to be ready for his next attack. She couldn't believe that before, she had been the leader of the most elite squad of Power Rangers, but now, she was being attacked by a fellow Ranger who basically wanted to rip her apart. Something hard and metal crashed into her head and agony shot up her spine as she fell once again. For a moment, she just lay there, breathing heavily on the cold floor. She pressed a hand to the side of her head to stop the headache that had come with it and she gasped as blood drenched her hand, slowly dripping down the left side of her face as well. Soon, it practically blinded her in the left eye and the fact that she could only see with the other one made her even more frightened of what Sky would do to her next.

 _What is wrong with me? I used to be the leader of A-squad, I can't show fear,_ Charlie thought anxiously. _But... it's too much for me. I don''t even care anymore._

Sky slid in front of her, making sure that she could see him. "You should have thought about what would happen after when you betrayed SPD before!"

"But I was going to get another- NO!" Charlie screamed as Sky rolled her body over and stabbed a dagger into her back. Her tormentor yanked it out quickly after and stabbed her twice more. The former A-squad Red Ranger was crying out for help as blood streamed from the wounds in her body. She didn't care about her dignity anymore. But she didn't want to die.

"Please! Someone please help me!" There were a few cadets at SPD that still secretly sympathized with the A-squad, but it seemed that no one could hear her from that private room. Sky's eyes were wild and so was he.

"Cadet Tate, report in! Do you know where the former leader of A-squad is?"

A flash of hope ignited inside Charlie as Commander Cruger's voice boomed out of Sky's morpher. Sky plucked it out of the holster and snapped back, "No, Commander. I am busy right now."

"Doing what, Cadet?"

As Sky pressed the button again, Charlie shouted, "Commander, he's with me and he's trying to kill me! Please help!"

"What?" Sky shut off his communicator and his eyes blazed as he turned toward her.

"No one can or will help you. No one cares for anyone on the A-Squad anymore."

Suddenly, someone banged hard on the door from outside and Z's muffled voice reached both of their ears. "Sky, are you in there? I got replaced for the training session, so I've been trying to find you." Her voice lowered a few decibels. "Is Charlie in there too?"

"Yes."

"Let me in, Sky!"

The Blue Ranger stalked over to the door and wrenched it open, slamming it closed again after Z breezed through.

"So, Charlie..." she said with a dangerous tone to her voice. "...Sky has shown you what happens when you throw SPD away from you. And I am going to finish what he started."

Sky nodded approvingly. "Go for it, Z."

Z advanced on Charlie, backing her up against the wall. She pulled her up roughly and then threw her to the ground on her other side.

"SPD, emergency!" The Yellow Ranger had morphed. "Get up!"

Charlie obeyed and immediately took a fighting stance. However, with the great amounts of blood running down her body, she didn't give of much of a fearsome impression. Z flew at her like a dart, striking her in the chest multiple times. Charlie forced herself to stay standing and dealt a few hard blows in return, sending her opponent sprawling. She instantly got up and attacked once more, moving too fast for the former A-squad Ranger to spot or target. The force of all of Z slammed into her, knocking her away once again, and pain exploded inside Charlie as she crashed onto her body, stabbing a small knife into her arm, and pressed a blaster to the side of her head.

"Take a moment to think the best thought you can muster," Z sneered, "because it will be your last."

Charlie blinked, taking in a struggling breath of air.

Then the door shot open again.

"Cadet Tate! Cadet Delgado! What is going on here?"

 _Yes!_ Charlie thought, her expression briefly changing to relief as Z and Sky looked back at the dog alien who had just arrived, Z rolling off of her, demorphing, and standing up as she did so.

"Delgado?" Cruger exclaimed in disbelief. "Are you...?"

"She's trying to destroy her, sir," Sky replied, standing at attention. "She still hasn't forgiven her for the way she betrayed SPD."

"What?" Z rounded on Sky. "You were the one who brought her in here in the first place! I didn't even know you were here! You were the first one who started attacking her."

"Is this true, Sky?" Cruger asked.

"No, sir. I was trying to stop Z and failed. I did share the belief that Charlie shouldn't have betrayed SPD, but I would never attack her."

"Cadet Tate, take Miss Delgado to the control room and keep her there until I get back to decide her punishment while I take Charlie to the medical quarters." He looked sternly at Z. "She was supposed to meet with me so I could interrogate her for redemption. You are in big trouble, Z."

 **(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((**

Charlie blinked a few times as she slowly opened her eyes. Bright lights graced around her. The room was empty. Her body had been stripped of clothing and bandages covered certain areas on her arm, stomach, head, and back.

"Cruger?" she called. "Are you here?"

A menacing snarl echoed around the room. "He's not, but I am. I promise, there will be a time when I take you away from SPD and make you suffer more. Z is now out of the way. I will convince Jack, Bridge, and Syd that your previous crimes should be punished by destruction, then blame all of them solely until it's just me left."

Charlie let out a wail, sitting up quickly, and fierce agony immediately shot through her, making her shriek again. All she could think about was the impending death stalking her, waiting for her.

 _I can only wait. Wait for Sky to tear me apart. Or..._

She took a deep breath.

 _If I can just get Cruger to see his true colors..._

Charlie wanted to smile, but the pain rushing through her body made it impossible and she released a high-pitched cry.

 _...then Sky won't be able to hurt me anymore._


End file.
